Best of 2011: wall of sound

Today we have a great list of music for adults and children. Who knew shoegazing was a genre? Hearing is believing.

The Best Music You Might Not Have Heard in 2011

Strange Mercy, by St. Vincent “St. Vincent’s most reflective and most audacious album to date, and Clark remains as delicately uncompromising an artist as ever.”

Tomboy, by Panda Bear “The woozy, reverb-rich result makes for great headphone swimming (also: infant appeasement!), but Lennox is at his best with a groove to submerge.” Entertainment Weekly (Apr 8, 2011)

Belong, by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart If you enjoy the “shoegazing” genre bands like Ride and My Bloody Valentine – and you haven’t heard the Pains yet – check this out. They’ve made a “a great-sounding modern rock album without selling their souls.”

Yuck, by Yuck – Apparently there’s been a recent wave of shoegazers (see above), and this debut record is “pure and easy-to-love” with lots of creative nods to many of the genre’s originators.

Only In Dreams, by Dum Dum Girls – “A fine, grown-up guitar [indie] pop record.”

Breaks in the Armor, by Crooked Fingers — Steeped in the heady waters of Mickey Newbury-meets-Bruce Springsteen-infused heartland heartache and peppered with dusty blasts of gothic outlaw imagery.”

Arabia Mountain, by Black Lips — “Garage-flavored punk rock with a Southern accent… Songs jump out of the speakers with a force the band never had before, fully half the album could be summer rock radio hits or dance party staples… a blast from start to finish.”

All Eternals Deck, by The Mountain Goats – The band’s fourteenth album is “meticulously detailed yet poetically cryptic.”

Days, by Real Estate – “This is a great pop-rock album because it doesn’t feel the need to be anything else.” One Thirty BPM Oct 19, 2011

In Love With Oblivion, by Crystal Stilts – “Noise pop meets ’60s psych sound built around fuzzy guitars, swirling organ, huge amounts of reverb…”

Note: All quotes from allmusic.com unless otherwise noted.

Music for Kids

Acoustic Dreamland, Putumayo Kids, Putumayo World Music.

Becoming My Own Me: Songs for Developing Toddlers, David Kisor.

Big Bully, the Best Foot Forward Series, Big Round Records.

Classic Lullabies: Music for the Sweetest Dreams, Virgin Classics.

Love Me For Who I Am, Brady Rymer, Bumblin’ Bee Records.

Only One Ocean, the Banana Slug String Band, Slug Music.

Ukulele Baby!, the Wiggles, Razor and Tie Music.

Be sure to visit A Reading Life for more reviews and news of all things happening at the Everett Public Library.

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